The Most Important Hunt
by Garion Faldor
Summary: Another one-shot. Alisha asks Beowulf to train her in hunting skills while the two are on a wilderness vacation. Unbeknownst to her, Beowulf is nearing the end of his most important hunt: his lover's heart. MATURE CONTENT!


**A\N: ** Inserting obligatory notice that this story has mature content.

**The Most Important Hunt**

"This is where you're taking me for our vacation?" Alisha asked skeptically as she looked around.

Beowulf grinned at her, slightly abashed. "I know it's not what most people would think about when they hear 'vacation' but it will give us a chance to relax and get away from it all."

Alisha folded her arms, glaring at the trees and grass surrounding her. "I think you took that phrase a bit too literally, furball. It doesn't mean away from civilization completely. Besides, what if there are bandits or thieves in these woods?"

Beowulf merely chuckled. "Don't worry, I had Prometheus create a massive warding circle for us. Its miles in diameter and nothing harmful or evil can enter it. He said something about it being as close to the Garden of Eden as he could make it, wherever that is." He shrugged.

Alisha shrugged as well, not getting the reference. "So what are we supposed to do out here, eat grass and sit under the trees all week?"

Beowulf rested a hand gently on her shoulder. "Come, love. Don't be upset. I spent my childhood in woods like these and I assure you, I was never bored."

Alisha snorted in vague amusement. "How much of that excitement came from hiding from your fellow gnolls?"

Beowulf's ears sheepishly wilted a bit. "Some." He muttered.

Alisha merely laughed and flopped down on the ground. "Well, at least it's peaceful and quiet here. If nothing else, I'll have plenty of time to relax. I just hope you brought food and a tent with you or I shall be upset."

Beowulf smiled. "The food is all around us, my dear. As for shelter, I have that covered as well."

He sat down beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "I was thinking I could show you how I lived back in those days. It's not really as bad as you imagine it to be. I was lonely and afraid, yes, but I had many enjoyable times as well."

Turning to face her, his golden eyes stared into hers. "Life is what you make of it moment by moment and I chose to be happy."

Alisha smiled softly, running her fingers through the fur on his face. "So, what were your favorite things to do?"

Beowulf smiled at her interest. "Swimming, fishing, hunting."

She snorted again. "Sounds like work to me."

Beowulf's smile broadened. "Let me show you how it can be fun."

LINE

The afternoon passed quickly as the two soon found a large, partially clear lake nearby. Foregoing modesty they stripped and enjoyed a cool, refreshing swim in the sun. At one point she felt something move past her foot and yelped quietly. Beowulf turned to look at her with a vaguely confused expression on his face.

"Something just bumped my foot!" She exclaimed.

The gnoll shrugged, completely unconcerned. "Doesn't surprise me. It's probably a fish."

"There are fish in here?" She asked, her eyes widening.

Beowulf blinked at her in confusion. "Why wouldn't there be? This is a lake, not a swimming pool."

Alisha grimaced. "If something nibbles on my toes I'm going to flash-freeze this lake solid."

Beowulf chuckled. "I don't think the lake is infested with piranha, my dear. Don't worry, I'll scare the big mean fish away."

Alisha harrumphed but soon had a smile on her face once again after a quick splash fight with her furry lover. At one point he quickly dove under the surface and began tickling her foot with his claw only to get his nose smacked by her kick. He came to the surface, gasping for air and muttering curses as he held his sensitive nose only to see Alisha smirking at him.

"That's what you get when you pretend to be a fish." She informed him. "Now carry me out of this lake, I wish to sunbathe." She said imperiously.

"As you command, my Queen." He said in amusement, taking her into his arms and slowly swimming to shore. He exited the water, carrying her bridal style and laid her on the soft grass near the lake's edge before walking several feet away and shaking himself vigorously, causing a spray of water droplets to fly away from him. As he came back and laid down next to her, she smirked.

"I always knew you were a dog. That shaking just proves it."

Beowulf chuckled. "I have to. Otherwise my fur would never dry."

"Can you even get a suntan under all that?" She asked him curiously.

The gnoll snorted. "Hardly. You would have to shave me all over in order for me to get a suntan. And don't even think about that." He instructed her pointedly, noticing she had started to smile.

"Aww, but you might be cute all naked like us humans." She insisted sweetly.

Beowulf simply rolled his eyes. "I doubt it. However, I do like the look of you naked." He told her with a gleam in his eye.

Alisha raised an eyebrow at this before smiling. "I should hope so, mister. What do you like to see the most?" She asked teasingly before rolling onto her back and stretching widely.

Beowulf licked his lips before trailing a finger along her cheek. Alisha glanced at him in amusement. "Yes, I know you like all of me but you must like…certain places more."

Beowulf's ears twitched before his finger trailed down to her breast, swirling across it before flicking her nipple gently with his claw. He dragged the edge of it down her flat stomach before it slid between her legs, parting her lips and brushing lightly against her nub.

Alisha hummed she felt his finger touch her intimately. "Keep going." She murmured as she closed her eyes, feeling the sun beat down on her skin.

"Yes, my Queen." He said softly, brushing the rough pad of his finger against her button more quickly. She slowly began to breathe more deeply as her hips jumped slightly every so often, briefly pushing harder against his finger. He kept up the constant stimulation, his nose taking in the scent of the musk she was emitting between her legs as she felt lubricating fluids trickle down her opening. As she began to pant she suddenly felt a weight on her chest as Beowulf placed his head between her breasts, his ear over her heart.

"So fast and hard." He murmured, listening to its rapid beat as it pushed against his cheek. "Let me see if I can make it go faster."

Switching the position of his hand so that his thumb continued to rub her clit, his forefinger plunged inside of her, twitching forward and backward in an attempt to emulate his currently hard member. Alisha gasped and moaned as she began to buck against his hand, her heart pounding harder and faster than before.

"Yes!" He hissed as he stroked her harder, inserting another finger. "Come to completion for me!"

His words earned him another loud moan as her body began to jerk and writhe under him, her heart thundering in his ear. Suddenly she gave a great cry as her muscles clenched around his fingers spasmodically, her heart skipped several beats as it raced, her breath coming in loud, irregular pants. Finally she collapsed onto the grass, breathing heavily, her face flushed. Beowulf slowly removed his head from her chest and took his wet fingers into his mouth, tasting her juices before turning back to her with a smile. She slowly opened her eyes and smiled.

"Best sunbath ever."

Beowulf grinned slyly at her as she smiled back.

"Did you enjoy yourself?" He asked.

Alisha raised a lazy eyebrow. "What? My heart nearly exploding in my chest wasn't a big enough clue."

Beowulf chuckled softly as Alisha looked down at his semi-hard member, a point of clear fluid glistening at the tip. "I can see you enjoyed yourself too."

Beowulf merely smiled as she reached down with her hand, wiping away the fluid with a fingertip and sticking it into her mouth. "Hmm…I am a bit thirsty and that water doesn't look good to drink. Maybe I should get something to drink from this." She suggested, gripping him tightly and stroking, causing more of the fluid to leak from his penis.

As Beowulf lay back, Alisha moved downward so that her head lay between his legs. Taking his tip into her mouth, she lapped up the juice, seemingly tasting it.

"A bit salty but not bad." She commented with a smile. "Let's see if I can get more to come out."

Beowulf took in a deep breath as her mouth engulfed him, her one hand stroking up and down his hard length as her other squeezed the large knot at his base as she worked it free from his sheathe. Beowulf stretched his legs out wider as he arched his hips in time with her ministrations. Her head quickly bobbed up and down over his hot flesh as her tongue slithered over his tip and along its sides. Absently she realized she could feel it throb with his heartbeat as she sucked it hard, causing him to moan with strains of a howl mixed in. Her hand and mouth continued stroking, faster and more insistent as his breathing became harsher, his member throbbing more and more quickly until it finally erupted in her mouth. Beowulf threw his head back with a loud howl as his back and hips arched, his seed flooding into her mouth in great spurts. Finally she withdrew her mouth from his hardness, licking away the last of the fluid before swallowing it with relish and licking her lips. As she moved upwards to face him, she rested her head against his, her hand on his chest. She could feel his own heart beating steadily as she toyed with his nipple using her nail. With a great sigh of content, he gazed down at her.

"You taste good." She told him softly.

Beowulf smiled.

After another hour or two the pair left the lake and returned to the tent Beowulf had erected. The gnoll had immediately slipped away, saying he had some hunting to do. Vaguely puzzled but unconcerned, Alisha spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in the clearing. A few hours later as the sun was beginning to go down, Beowulf returned with some freshly slain rabbits and vegetables. He quickly went to work skinning the animals and cutting away the meat before cutting up the vegetables with his hunting knife. Pouring some water into a pot he quickly began to add the ingredients into it. Catching on, Alisha quickly started a small fire using her magic and some wood before Beowulf placed the pot on top of it, adding a few spices from a pouch on his belt. The evening passed quietly as they ate the makeshift stew and gazed at the stars, occasionally trying to make amusing predictions based on what they saw. Finally the two entered the tent Beowulf had erected, settling into their bedrolls.

"Will you take me hunting tomorrow?" She asked him quietly.

Beowulf looked over at her, quirking an eyebrow. "You wish to learn how to hunt?"

"Something like that." She smiled.

Beowulf frowned at her slightly in puzzlement but shrugged amicably. "Why not."

* * *

The days passed quickly as Beowulf instructed his mate in the art of the hunt.

"You must first learn to be still." He instructed her softly on the first day as they crouched near a bush, stalking a nearby deer, his hand on her shoulder. "You humans crash about, flailing about with your senses to see and hear everything but you do not take everything in at once. When you are still, when you let your senses expand outward, you take in the forest as a whole and you understand everything that goes on around you."

His eyes remained fixed on the deer several hundred feet away as he continued. "For example, the wind blows from a certain direction, carrying your scent downwind and brings to you the scents of other creatures upwind. Whether the birds sing in the trees or not will tell you if something dangerous is nearby. Your eyes watch for the flicker of movement not in focusing on a certain spot, but by letting your vision take in everything at once. Your ears hear the rustle of leaves or the snap of a twig that tells you where something is. All of these things, together, will tell you a great deal about what is going on around you."

Beowulf smiled at her cunningly as the deer suddenly raced off in another direction. "The trick, of course, is to know what that something is and react before it reacts to you, for it is also doing the same things."

* * *

"It amazes me how often humans tend to over-think things." He explained later that day as they watched another deer drink from a nearby stream. "Thinking is good when one must prepare ahead of time for a battle or an argument but when one is hunting, hesitation means the loss of your prey and possibly your death, depending on what you hunt." He told her, his eyes grim. "By the time you have tried to out-think the dragon or the wyvern it will be upon you and your chance at life is gone. Instinct is what serves you best in the wild and it must be honed to a razor-sharp edge."

The gnoll smiled easily as he slowly picked up the bow he had brought with him. "Fortunately for us there is nothing dangerous here so you need not hone your instincts that much. But the point still holds true." He said as he slid an arrow carefully from its quiver and put it to his bowstring. "If you intend to shoot your prey with an arrow, make it ready when you see your prey." He raised the bow and began to pull the string back, sighting along the arrow's shaft. "Wait for the right moment and when your instincts cry out…"

He suddenly released the string, letting the arrow fly. A moment later it struck the deer in the neck, felling it.

"Do not hesitate." He finished grimly, his eyes narrowly focused on the dying deer nearby as Alisha shuddered next to him.

* * *

"Let us see how well you have done in understanding what I have shown you." He stated one morning. "I have shown you how to move and how to remain still. I have shown you how to track your prey and how to kill it. I have shown you how to listen to the world around you. Now you must put it into practice."

"You're not coming with me?" Alisha asked.

Beowulf shook his head. "You must do this on your own, without aid from me. Only when you have tracked and killed your prey without help will you be a successful hunter. Return to me with the animal you kill."

Alisha nodded before slipping into the tent. When she emerged several minutes later, she was dressed in a tight forest green halter top and earth colored loincloth with a quiver of arrows and bow across her back with her hair tied back in a dark ribbon. Glancing around, she noted that Beowulf had left the camp. Shrugging her shoulders, she slipped into the forest quietly, her bare feet and light steps making virtually no sound as she moved through the grass.

An hour passed and then another as she carefully made her way through the forest, letting her senses take in everything as Beowulf had taught her and processing it as a cohesive whole. A soft rustle in the brush nearby caused her to crouch down immediately, hiding behind a tree trunk before a rabbit raced by, making her smile before she partially stood up and continued on her way. After another half hour of carefully stepping around fallen branches and moving from tree to tree, she noticed a splotch of brown against the grey and green of the bushes nearby. Settling into a crouch, she peered around the brush to see a fawn munching on the grass. Slowly taking the bow off her back, she slide an arrow silently from her quiver and placed it against the string. Slowly raising her arms she took aim and slowly drew the bowstring back, stretching it taught. A millimeter at a time she carefully adjusted her aim until the arrow's point aimed precisely at its neck. Suddenly she felt something rise up within her as if the universe were holding its breath, tense in anticipation of what was to come in the next moment as her gaze focused entirely on the creature before her.

A feeling of absolute certainly and confidence seemingly snapped into existence about her like a tight cloak and she released the arrow immediately. The arrow flew straight and true, imbedding itself in the fawn's neck, causing it to cry out in pain and shock as its lifeblood surged from its neck in pulses. Falling to the ground the creature lay there as the cloak of certainly about her slowly dissipated, leaving behind a cool numbness, her face a grim mask of accomplishment. She quickly strode over to the fawn and began to try and remove the arrow from its neck when something thumped behind her. Before she could move, a sharp bladed edge found itself at her neck as a furred arm wrapped around her, pinning her arms to her side.

"Foolish of you not to mind your surroundings after a kill." A gravelly voice whispered in her ear.

Startled and shocked by the blade, she relaxed at hearing the voice. "Very funny, you furball." She smiled.

Seemingly ignoring her comment, his grip tightened around her. "Still you did well for your first hunt. I am pleased. But now I have hunted and caught my own prey. What shall I do with it, I wonder?" He pondered with a cruel edge in his voice.

Taking in the scent of blood and death in the air, he shuddered slightly. "You smell of death and the blood of your prey stains the ground. A most potent musk for any gnoll." He growled softly, pressing his body against her as he tossed the knife away.

Alisha's eyes widened slightly as she could feel his hot erection pressing against the small of her back, realizing he had hunted her without a stitch of clothing on.

"Do you always hunt in the nude?" She murmured.

"Do you forget? Beowulf only wore loincloth in forest when he first met noisy bitch." He replied, his speech slipping back into the primitive Common he had used when they had first met. "Clothes have too many colors, too loud to hunt with." He growled pleasingly. "You finally wear what Beowulf like."

"You mean a loincloth and barely a top?" She asked in amusement before turning around in his arms. "Or would you prefer I have nothing on at all?"

Beowulf's eyes widened slightly in surprise before he grinned at her, baring his fangs. "Beowulf taste prey to see how it tastes."

Suddenly he shoved her to the ground, pinning her arms with his clawed hands, straddling her stomach. He ran his nose along the side of her face and neck, breathing in deeply before sliding his tongue along the edge of her jaw before his jaws clamped down on her neck. Alisha sucked in a shocked breath as his fangs and teeth pressed tightly against her throat, not enough to draw blood but enough to make her heart pound anxiously, fearing he might tear out her throat any second. Beowulf breathed in deeply with pleasure as he felt her pulse race beneath his tongue as it pressed against her jugular. Swabbing it languidly, he slowly released her neck from his jaws before sliding down her body. Looking up at her wickedly, he grabbed the halter in his teeth, ripping it away with a fling of his head, baring her breasts to the cool afternoon breeze.

"No good for eating but these are nice and plump." He grunted, squeezing her breasts roughly with his fingers. "Good milk for cubs."

He ran his tongue up the valley between her breasts, tasting her sweat before swapping her breasts with it. Taking a nipple in his mouth, he squeezed it gently with his fangs before pressing his ear to her chest.

"Strong heart and breath. Good." He muttered, listening to her harsh breathing as her heart pounded in his ear. Raising his head, he grabbed her upper arms, feeling the muscles.

"Hmm…arm muscles weak but can fix that." He considered before sliding his hands down her arms to examine her hands. "Slim hands. No good for fighting but good for holding cubs and making food."

Sliding down further, his hands slid along her stomach pressing against the muscles underneath her skin before he tore away her loincloth, revealing her thatched red mound. As he moved between her legs he pressed his nose into her pubic hair, breathing in her scent, growling hungrily.

"Noisy bitch in heat." He exclaimed with a feral grin. "Good! But first…"

Narrowing his eyes, he pressed the flat of his hand against her lower stomach above her womb. Shutting his eyes, he murmured various soft barks and growls as his other hand gripped her thighs, feeling the tense muscle beneath. Finally he opened his eyes with a grim smile.

"Ritual demand for strong cubs is finished. Noisy bitch has strong muscles in legs and center for bringing young. Strong heart and lungs to keep her alive for many years. Arms and hands not strong, but good to hold and care for cubs. Most of all…"

Beowulf's golden eyes bore into her own. "Noisy bitch has great fire in her eyes and power in her mind. Her tongue sharp like a gnoll's fang and courage like Beowulf. Noisy bitch has killed and not shed tears. She will make strong mate for Beowulf."

Pressing his body against her, his tip prodded against her opening as his eyes blazed. "Here and now I claim you, mine forever by right of conquest and the hunt! Here and now I fill you and take you in the sight of the gods and the land!"

With a cry he slammed his hips against hers, his thick meat thrusting inside of her, causing her to cry out in shock and pleasure as her insides expanded to accommodate him. Pinning her arms once again, he began to pound inside of her savagely without a hint of tenderness or caution as strings of drool whipped from between his fangs. His eyes blazed with lust as he felt her begin to thrust in time with him.

"Yes!" He cried to her. "Let go and howl as a gnoll does! Scream and yell!"

Abandoning all pretense of civility and humanity she began to buck wildly underneath him, her eyes clenched shut, her mouth wide as she panted and grunted loudly.

"Fuck me!" She screamed, her voice ragged and rough. "FUCK ME!"

Beowulf howled in response as his hips thrust faster and harder, his ballsac slapping against her in a fast rhythm as he panted loudly. Suddenly Alisha screamed inarticulately as an overwhelming wave of pleasure and wanton abandon roared through her body. Howling in exultant jubilance he exploded inside of her, his hot seed filling her insides as they writhed together on the grass, one in soul and body. Finally as the waves of pleasure and wildness ceased, he held himself up, his arms locked in place as he gazed at her, their bodies still joined.

"In the tongue of my people, you are Gersemi. A jewel and treasure above all others." He stated softly. "Any who would dare to sully or dim this treasure will die by my hand. We are one, now and forever."

Alisha looked up at him, her eyes glowing softly like emeralds in the light. "I love you, you crazy gnoll."

"I love you too, Gersemi." He whispered.


End file.
